Death Stranding 2 marketing may get a makeover and differ from Death Stranding 1
Between the Xbox cloud game and Death Stranding 2, Kojima Productions is pretty busy. The upcoming title remains a mystery as all fans have to go by is a cryptic trailer, some weird posters, and a short interview with Kojima where he explains that he’s rewriting everything. History after the COVID-19 pandemic. While Kojima likes to keep fans guessing, it might be a good idea to tone down Death Stranding 2’s chaotic marketing.
Trying to figure out Kojima’s clues is fun, but sometimes it comes at the cost of not having a good idea of what the game is going to lead to, like with Death Stranding. If Death Stranding 2 is aiming to topple Death Stranding, it might be a good idea to reveal that in the marketing, otherwise fans might end up believing it’s not that different.
Death Stranding Marketing
Death Stranding was Kojima’s first project since leaving Konami, so fans were excited to see what Kojima would create without the corporate shackles. Death Stranding’s trailer was cryptic, which is nothing new for the creator. Sam Bridges, played by Norman Reedus, is naked on a black sand beach with chains on his wrists, but with almost no indication of what players can expect from the upcoming game.
The rest of the marketing was equally vague, including confusing trailers that raised more questions than they answered. Kojima did not clarify matters, as during the press tour he appeared with various celebrities, including Conan O’Brien, and made vague comments. He was constantly talking about a new “closed” genre that connects people, which will be a new concept for the gaming landscape. In the end, people had to wait until they finally got their hands on the game to make an accurate judgment. An eccentric game of Death Stranding.
Death Stranding’s marketing potentially took things too far. With the title’s unique gameplay, it would be more beneficial for marketing to focus on the mechanics and how they relate to the central themes, rather than exclusive cinematic trailers that provide little insight into what players will be spending most of their time on. . It would be a good idea for Kojima Productions to avoid this with Death Stranding 2, but that’s no longer guaranteed.
Death Stranding 2’s Marketing Already Looks Wild
The Death Stranding sequel has yet to receive a release date, and the marketing surrounding it has been anything but ordinary. Kojima is hinting that he’s ready to unveil something new in 2022, as strange posters have surfaced featuring the likes of Deadpool 2’s Elle Fanning and Shioli Kutsuna. Then fans finally got a trailer at The Game Awards showing Death Stranding 2’s Fragile rescue. As a baby, Sam has aged considerably.
The trailer shows that Death Stranding 2 may take place partially underwater, which could open the door to some interesting new gameplay mechanics and traversal methods. This is necessary because a Death Stranding sequel can be boring if it simply reuses gameplay from its predecessor. To reassure fans that the next game won’t be a carbon copy of the first, it would help if Kojima ditched his usual chaotic marketing and offered a simple gameplay demo that showcased what people can expect.
According to the leak, we’ll have to wait until 2024 before Death Stranding 2 is released. In that time frame, Kojima has plenty of room for amazing trailers full of little details that will keep fans watching for months. In between all of this, I hope there will be some normal marketing that gives fans a clear idea of what they’re getting into.
